The thief's reward

Once upon a time, a priest was reciting passages from the Hindu Holy book, Shrīmadbhagwadgitā, in front of a gathering of people. Afterwards he told everyone stories about Shrīkrushna's childhood as a prince. He described Shrikrushna's beautiful face, His royal outfit and the wonderful jewels He wore. He said that young Shrikrushna used to go to the forest with other cowherds, to feed the cows. The priest then told everyone that The God is immortal and appears in front of every devotee who prays sincerely, chants (repeats) His Name and wishes to see Him.

A thief, who happened to overhear the priest's lecture, was tempted by the description of young Shrikrushna's jewels. He was encouraged on hearing that he would be able to see Shrikrushna if he chanted His name and prayed to Him. He wished to meet young Shrikrushna in the forest, so as to rob him of His jewels and become rich quickly. He therefore decided to visit Gokul, where Shrikrushna had spent His childhood.

When the thief reached Gokul, he started chanting Shrikrushna's Name and praying from his heart, wanting to meet the young Shrikrushna. He looked for Him in the forest, day and night, calling out 'Shrikrushna,' 'Shrikrushna.' Many days passed. The thief became restless and started thinking about Shrikrushna day and night, even in his sleep.

Finally, one day as the thief went around the forest, calling out to Shrikrushna and searching for Him, young Shrikrushna actually appeared before him. Just as the priest had said, young Shrikrushna was wearing precious jewels and a royal robe. However, the thief was so ecstatic on seeing The God, that he was totally captivated by His glorious presence and forgot all about his intention to steal the jewels.

Later on, even after young Shrikrushna had left, the thief did not realise that he had lost the opportunity to rob Him of the jewels. In fact, he spent the rest of his days in Blissful worship of The God, grateful for meeting Him.

Moral: The story above shows that even a thief could be transformed and could experience The God's Blissful presence, due to his sincere and determined prayer and chanting. We too, can experience God's Blissful presence and overcome our defects like anger, laziness, etc. by sincerely repeating prayers and chanting God's Name as per our religion, daily.